Ask Pastor Adrienne: Halloween in horrible decline

Thursday

Oct 10, 2019 at 9:13 AMOct 10, 2019 at 9:16 AM

Q: Dear Pastor,Halloween is my favorite holiday but I’ve noticed it gets scarier every year and not as much fun. Why is this?

A: We are in the season of horror. Our televisions, movie theaters and even radio stations are once again advertising terror—sickening pictures of demonic inspiration and harrowing screams. Card-carrying Christians who are regular church attenders seem to check out of the saints-line, put on costumes and join the pagan ranks for a night out. Does God condone Halloween? Not on your life.

I remember when October was a thrilling, mysterious time of year. Drawn to the darkness as a youth, I relished the idea of costumes, pumpkin carvings and candy. As a teen, if someone took me to a haunted house, I counted myself one of the mightily mature and brave. My college years brought adult revelry, dabbling in the dark arts and courageous, graveyard walks with friends. The truth? It’s exciting to be scared. Fear is a normal, wholesome experience, right? Nope. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NASB).

Then something happened. While living in the heart of downtown Savannah, Georgia during my senior year of college, it began to dawn on me that becoming an adult might be important at that juncture. I started to take responsibility for my life and think about a future. God was still sadly shelved in the background of my lifestyle then, but the Holy Spirit was working on me. My insides were bothered by the season of Satan for the first time. I was 23.

I became the designated driver for Halloween night, not my usual post by any stretch, and hauled eight people in my 1982 Toyota Corolla we called the “yellow bomber” to the premier showing of “Halloween IV.” After unloading the drunks into the theater, I parked, bought my ticket and entered the show. Thirty minutes later I walked out and waited at the car. The slashing, shocking images; sounds and vulgarity didn’t feel like fake Hollywood anymore. I knew the newscasts of daily life were often mirroring the sentiment. Those things on the screen were slowly making their way into my American culture; our mindsets and our spirits. The revelation of my heart said I was watching a commentary on darkness. The devil wasn’t make-believe any more - those on-screen brutalities were happening all over the world in real time.

Earlier that same day, as I’d walked back from class, I passed several graveyards. (Savannah has numerous Civil War, Revolutionary War and even earlier burial grounds.) I’d noticed many mausoleums, vaults and crypts appeared to be vandalized. The accounts in the newspapers and word on the streets were reporting an upsurge in grave-robbing because the Voodoo religion had risen in strength in Savannah. It wasn’t gold and gems the thieves were after… it was the sacred relics of the dead. Bones, hair, clothing, teeth and coffin lining are all components needed for satanic spells and demonic rituals. Halloween is the high holiday of the Church of Satan. Why on earth would you celebrate it?

“Well, we don’t get into any of that,” you plead, dismissive. “My kids and I just go for the candy and fun. We don’t see it that way.” That’s like saying abortion isn’t murder unless you participate in it. Regardless of how you see it or deny inconvenient facts, Halloween is still the high-holiday of the Church of Satan.

The season-of-scary is getting darker every year, as you’ve noticed. Our sensitivity to horror diminishes the more often we are exposed to it. Films and TV are more bloodthirsty than ever before since we need more of it to sustain the same spine-tingling fear.

If you believe Halloween is a season for children, today is the day to change your perspective. We are not living in the realm of Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin; we’re fighting “The Walking Dead” and the witchcraft of “Harry Potter.” It’s not your imagination that things are getting worse. Please, pray instead of play.